Stony Brook University SUNY Korea

SUNY Korea Professor Chihmao Hsieh won 2nd place in a nationwide competition at the 2024 Culture Communication Forum, hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI). The CICI is a non-profit organization accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dedicated to showcasing the essence of Korea’s image to the world. The theme of the competition was “New Korea Ideas Contest”, aimed at identifying new ways in which Korean culture could be shared with the rest of the world. 

Out of 256 projects submitted to this competition, 15 finalists were showcased on the final day at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. Professor Hsieh won the “Excellence Award” for giving a presentation on how the “K-gestures,” including the finger heart and other well-known hand gestures in Korea’s informal communication culture, could be spread commercially around the world via logo design, as well as campaigns involving tailor-made animated characters or Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok reels. The judges for the competition included CJ Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, Hyungji Group VP Choi Jun-Ho, Ambassador Hotel Group Seo Jung-ho, PMC CEO Song Seung-whan, Flitto CEO Lee Jung-Soo, and nearly a dozen National Ambassadors to Korea. The event and Professor Hsieh’s award were mentioned on Arirang TV and TV Chosun, as well as in a dozen newspapers.